Eight years ago, the production management department ofthe WHU launched the industry competition, Best Factory / Industrial Excellence Award' jointly with the media partner Wirtschaftswoche in Germany. Two years earlier, the competition had been initiated successfully by INSEAD faculty in France. Over the years, the joint research team experienced first-hand that application of Management Quality was a key driver ofcontinuous improvement along the firm's core business proc esses. Moreover, those companies that exhibited the highest improvement rates achieved mostly the best business results...